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Alarmed by Syrian Kurds' advances against ISIS militants and irked by Western reluctance to tackle Syrian President Bashar Assad, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has once again raised the prospect of a Turkish military intervention in Syria.

Such a move would risk alienating the West when confidence in Turkey has been already been shaken by Erdogan's authoritarian tendencies and a slowdown in growth, and also prevent the AK Party that he founded forming a coalition with the main opposition party.

But Erdogan's drumbeating may be a gambit to influence the U.S.-led coalition in Syria, and bolstering his popularity at home after a major election setback for the AK Party.

Ankara has looked askance as Syrian Kurdish PYD forces, backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, have pushed back ISIS militants from Syrian towns near the Turkish border. Turkey fears the creation of an autonomous Kurdish state in Syrian territory, which would further embolden its own 14 million Kurds.

The U.S. State Department said Monday it had no "solid evidence" that Turkey was considering a buffer zone in Syria, adding that such a move would have "serious logistical challenges".